Greenville, S.C. -- VMI's QJ Peterson netted a team-high 18 points and the Keydets capitalized on Furman mistakes by scoring 17 second half points off of 12 turnovers en route to an 83-73 victory over the Paladins on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

The win snapped a five-game skid for VMI as the Keydets improved to 6-11 overall and 2-4 in the Southern Conference.  Furman slipped to 4-11 overall and 2-3 in league play.

Furman rallied from an 11-point first half deficit to take the lead early in the second half and trailed 58-57 following a pair of Devin Sibley free throws with 12:41 to play.  VMI answered with a 12-2 run to push its lead back to double digits as the Keydets held the Paladins to 0-for-5 shooting from the floor and forced four turnovers from the 13-minute mark until Stephen Croone converted a layup with 7:22 left to trim the margin back to 73-63.

The Paladins trimmed the lead to six points on two occasions, but the Keydets made good on 7-of-8 trips to the foul line in the final 2:15 to claim the 10-point victory.

Peterson connected on 6-of-17 shots to tally his 18 points, while Tim Marshall and Julian Eleby joined him in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.  The Keydets shot 44.1% from the field and outscored the Paladins by 21 points behind the three-point line by converting on 12-of-32 treys.

VMI finished with 22 points off of 17 Furman turnovers, while they committed just 10 turnovers.

Croone recorded his first double-double of the season for the Paladins with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.  He hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and 9-of-12 attempts at the charity stripe.  Sophomore Kris Acox contributed 14 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Daniel Fowler added 13 points.

The Paladins shot 46.9% from the field, made 22-of-30 free throw attempts and managed a 35-34 rebounding edge.

VMI used an 11-0 run midway through the first half to grab a 35-23 lead, but John Davis III provided five points and a pair of assists to ignite a 12-2 Paladin run that cut the Keydet lead to 44-43 at the half.  The lead changed hands four times in the opening minutes of the second period before Phillip Anglade's three-point play with 14:06 remaining broke a 53-53 deadlock and gave VMI the lead for good.

Furman returns to the road this coming week when it visits league newcomer Mercer on Thursday night and faces The Citadel next Saturday afternoon in Charleston, S.C.

Thursday's game will be streamed live on ESPN3 and both games can be heard on the Furman IMG Sports Network on flagship station WGOG 96.3 FM and Fox Sports 1440 AM with play-by-play voice Dan Scott and color commentator Ron Smith.  The audio broadcast will also be available by logging onto TuneIn.com.  Links for the broadcast and live statistics will be available at FurmanPaladins.com.

Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information